After finishing a distant second in the primary election, George Branigan ended his run Wednesday for the Kenner-based 79th District seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives, handing victory to Tony Ligi.

George Branigan

Tony Ligi

Branigan received 23 percent of the total vote in Saturday's balloting, barely half Ligi's 42 percent. A runoff between the two candidates was set for Nov. 17. Three other candidates were eliminated on Saturday.

The steep uphill climb to reach Ligi is what prompted him to leave the race, said Branigan, a 48-year-old Kenner Republican and salesman of health insurance and other employee benefits. He said his advisers told him he would have to go negative to catch up.

"Basically I didn't feel like mounting a negative campaign on somebody was the right thing to do," Branigan said. "I value my reputation in the community."

"My gut says, 'Never quit,' but you've got to be realistic," he said.

Ligi, a 52-year-old Kenner Republican and lawyer, said he respected Branigan's decision to step aside after working hard on the race. Ligi said it frees him to spend the next several weeks preparing to take office instead of campaigning.

"I don't know that there was a whole lot he could go negative with on me, but I appreciate the decision he made," Ligi said.

"It's really a good thing for the district because I don't have to knock on doors for four weeks," he said. "It gives me the opportunity to hit the ground running."

Ligi will take the seat now held by Rep. Danny Martiny, R-Kenner, who is term-limited. Martiny on Saturday won the 10th Senate District election.

When he goes to Baton Rouge in January, Ligi said his first priority will be ethics reform for politicians. During the campaign, he said he wants to prohibit elected officials from seeking state contracts and to increase penalties for ethical violations, both for politicians and organizations associated with them.

Mark Waller may be reached at mwaller@timespicayune.com or (504) 883-7056. Mary Sparacello can be reached at msparacello@timespicayune.com or (504) 467-1726.